The traveling road show that has become the NFL draft has been a boon to the league, and it was so again this year with a record number of more than 700,000 fans attending the three-day event in Detroit.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer made the announcement Saturday afternoon during the final day of the draft.
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“It had been a historic week here in the great city of Detroit,” she told the crowd. “We have shown the world what the Motor City is all about and it is my honor to announce that the 2024 NFL Draft has now broken the all-time record. 700,000 and counting!”
The previous record was set in 2019 when the draft drew 600,000 to Nashville for the three-day NFL event.
It was expected that Detroit was going to smash the record when it was announced by NFL chief football administration officer Dawn Aponte that 550,000 football fans had attended the first two days, and commissioner Roger Goodell said 275,000 fans were at Day 1 alone.
Detroit Lions fans cheer during the second round of the NFL football draft on Friday. AP The NFL draft had long been a New York event, with it taking place at locations that included Madison Square Garden and Radio City Music Hall from 1965 to 2014 before the NFL started hosting it in different cities each year.
The 2025 NFL Draft is slated to take place at Lambeau Field in Green Bay.
This year’s draft was the first league event that had been held in Detroit since hosting Super Bowl XL in 2006
NFL fans inside the NFL draft theater in Detroit light up their iPhones when instructed by the master of ceremonies, during a break between picks in the second round in the 2024 NFL Draft in Detroit. Eric Seals / USA TODAY NETWORK “A special thank you to everybody here who came from across Michigan and across the United States to help Detroit set new attendance records for the NFL draft,” Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said before he announced the Lions second-round pick on Friday night.
